Pink Syngonium is also called Arrowhead plant. Its unique pink arrow-shaped leaves make it extraordinary ornamental for home and office.
If you are interested in growing this plant then before starting it, you must know about its growing needs, common problems, propagation, and maintenance.
In this guide, I will walk you through the complete process of growing and caring for Pink Syngonium.
Pink Syngonium needs bright indirect light, moderate fertilization, and high humidity to grow in an indoor environment. Keep the grow room temperature between 15 to 25 degrees C to encourage variegation. It is moderately resistant to common plant diseases and pests.
Quick care guide
| Common Names | Arrowhead vine, Goosefoot plant |
| Family | Araceae family |
| Light | Bright indirect |
| Soil | Rich organic, fast draining |
| Water | Moderate |
| Fertilizer | Liquid Organic |
| Humidity | 40 to 65 % |
| Toxicity | Toxic to animals and humans |
| Pests | Mealybugs |
| Diseases | Root rot and brown leaves |
About Pink Syngonium
Arrowhead plant
Goosefoot plant
Arrowhead vine
These are some common names of the Pink Syngonium plant.
It is a rare aroid plant with beautiful pink color leaves that you can grow anywhere at home.
Under ideal conditions, the arrowhead vines grow up to 3 to 7 feet tall with a total spread of 2.5 feet.
To keep it short use medium size pots and goosefoot will stay between 2 to 3 feet in height. I found terracotta and plastic pots work well with the Syngonium genus.
It belongs to the Araceae family and is naturally found in Mexico and Brazil.
Pink Syngonium is a flowering plant, but you will not see flowers on your plant. The reason is indoor growing environment is less humid than its natural habitat.
It needs 90% humidity to produce flowers it is not possible to maintain inside a home or in an office.
One thing that I like the most about Pink Syngonium is its fast-growing rate, less care, and fewer maintenance needs.
Its vines spread in all directions and to keep it in good shape you need to trim them once every couple of months.
Despite being a beautiful plant, it has the unique property of air purifying. Arrowhead absorbs benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from the air.
Convert these pollutants into its food. This is the natural behavior of this plant.
If you are worried about the indoor air pollution of your home. Then you definitely grow a couple of Pink Syngonium plants to reduce air pollution significantly.
The only negative point that I have found about this plant is its toxic leaves. Its arrow-shaped pink leaves contain toxic substances.
Ingestion of its leaves and vines results in toxicity. It is best to grow it at some height so that your pets and kids cannot touch the plant.
You should also wear garden gloves while pruning it or wiping its leaves to keep them clean.
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How to Care for Pink Syngonium?
Anyone can grow it in plant pots and in hanging baskets with little care and maintenance.
Take care of its light needs, watering, fertilizing, and other important growth factors to keep it healthy for its entire life.
The following are its main growing requirements:
Light Needs of Pink Syngonium
Pink Syngonium needs filtered light to produce healthy growth. Install a sheer curtain on your sunny window to filter the light for your plant.
Protect it from direct sunlight because sunrays are extremely hot for its soft leaf tissues.
Direct exposure to the sun will result in burned leaves, weak plants, brown leaf tips, and less variegation.
To encourage the pink variegation, you must supply indirect bright light to your plant for 5 to 7 hours per day.
The good news is it can survive in low light and grow at a faster rate. But your arrowhead plant leaves will stay dark green with no variegation at all.
To help your plant to develop beautiful patterns on its leaves you must:
- Place your plant a few feet away from the sunny window
- Protect it from direct sun rays
- Use grow lights if there is not an appropriate amount of light in grow room
- Use a light meter to measure the amount of light it is receiving
- Arrange some shade if you are growing it outdoors
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When to Water Pink Syngonium
In summer Pink Syngonium needs more water whereas it needs fewer watering sessions in winter.
There is a simple trick to check whether your plant is thirsty or not, we call it the finger-watering technique.
Before watering your plant poke your finger in the potting soil. If it feels moistened means, it does not need water currently.
Check later and if you find the top few inches of potting soil are dry then it’s time to water your Pink Syngonium plant.
Quality of water and health of Pink Syngonium:
To prevent root rot and other watering-related issues you must use filtered water for watering the arrowhead plants.
Tap water contains chlorine and fluoride in it. These two substances are harmful to plant roots. They get collected at the base of the plant pot and block the root functions.
Roots become unable to absorb water and nutrients. This results in a lack of moisture and nutrients.
Hence your plant becomes weak, droopy, and prone to houseplant diseases.
Whereas filtered water does not contain any unwanted chemicals and minerals. Plant roots easily absorb filtered water from the soil within a few hours.
This prevents saturation of the soil and prevents root fungus-type problems.
Pink Syngonium Watering Tips:
- Use clean and filtered water
- Directly pour water to the base of the plant
- Use a plant pot with a drainage hole
- Reduce watering applications in winters
- Do not use cold or hot water.
- Water that sits at room temperature works best
Pink Syngonium Potting Soil
Pink Syngonium aka Arrowhead vine plant needs little acidic soil. The pH of the potting soil must be in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 pH.
The second thing that you need to check is the draining power and fertility of the soil.
It must be fast draining and must have some organic ingredients. Because organic substances reduce the need for fertilizers.
This keeps the growing cost very low, and you save some money. For good growth, the soil should have some fluffy material like perlite.
It not only makes some room for airflow. It also stores water in it to keep the plant well-hydrated.
When you use perlite in the formula, you need to water your plants less often.
This is not a costly ingredient. You can get it in all the garden stores.
Do not forget that soil is an important growth factor. Choosing the wrong kind of potting soil results in disaster.
Steps to choose the best soil for your Arrowhead vine plant:
- Look for the fast-draining material in the mixture.
- It should have some water-absorbing ingredients like perlite.
- Add compost or other organic material to the soil formula.
- Keep the pH of the soil on the slightly acidic side.
- Do not use your garden soil.
- Do not add sand to the soil formula.
Temperature
15 to 25 degrees C temperature is the best range for growing arrowhead vine plants.
The normal house temperature is in the same range. So, you don’t need to worry about the grow room temperature.
But if the temperature of the grow room drops below 12 degrees C, then this will create a problem. Because warm plants like arrowheads start feeling cold.
The soft tissues of the plant leaves start freezing, which results in slow and stunted growth.
In order to maintain the temperature of your grow room, always use a room temperature monitor.
You can set the minimum and maximum range and it will trigger the alarm. When the temperature goes above or below the set value.
Those living in 10 to 12 USDA zones do not need to worry about environmental conditions. These areas of the USA have a suitable environment for arrowhead plant care.
And people can freely grow it outside.
Helpful tips:
- Bring your plant indoors when the outdoor temperature starts dropping down.
- If growing it in hanging baskets then you must protect your plant from direct sunlight.
- If growing it outdoors, do not grow it in direct sunlight. Grow it under the shade of large trees or near a wall.
Pink Syngonium Humidity
It needs 40 to 65% humidity in the air. Stable humidity is necessary to grow a healthy and disease-free Pink Syngonium plant.
The indoor growing environment is in your control. You can increase or decrease the humidity with various methods.
An electric humidifier is a quick and easy solution for increasing humidity. If you do not have a humidifier, you can use traditional methods.
Pebble tray and grouping the plants are some proven easy methods.
In the summer months use a spray bottle to mist water on plant leaves. But you should mist water only in a limited quantity.
Increasing Humidity:
- Use a damp cloth and wipe the Pink Syngonium leaves to give comfort to your plant. Cotton cloth is best to use for wiping the leaves.
- In hot summer you must use distilled water and a spray bottle to mist water on its leaves. This gives instant comfort from the heat and dry air.
- A plant humidifier is best to increase general humidity efficiently.
Note: Do not put your plant in the bathroom, no doubt it’s a highly humid place but there is less air circulation in bathrooms.
This can result in leaf fungus and the yellowing of pink leaves.
Fertilizing Arrowhead Plant
Fertilizers are a must to use for Pink Syngonium to grow strong and disease-free.
In my opinion, Organic liquid fertilizer is perfect to use for pink Syngonium care.
Before using fertilizers read all the instructions and follow them. Highly concentrated formulas can burn your plant. Always dilute the solution before use.
Benefits of using liquid fertilizers:
- They are easy to absorb for roots.
- Give an instant nutritional boost
- Organic material gives nutrient supply for a long time
- Organic liquid fertilizers are safe to use on houseplants.
- Accidental overuse will not cause overfertilizing
- Do not contain harmful ingredients.
Steps to Prevent Overfertilization:
- Stop using fertilizers in the winter season.
- Do not use granular and powdered fertilizers, they are not safe for container-grown plants.
- Always dilute the fertilizers before use.
Pruning
Trimming is necessary to keep Pink Syngonium short and healthy.
As I said this plant is a fast grower. The arrowhead vines grow at a rapid rate in all directions. To keep their growth in control you need to trim the overly-grown vines.
You should also cut the infected parts of the plant to encourage healthy growth.
Yellow leaves are permanent and they do not turn green. Therefore, immediately remove those leaves that are turning yellow.
Use sharp shears to cut the vines of your arrowhead plant.
At first, sterilize the tools with rubbing alcohol and wear garden gloves. Then trim your plant and dispose of the trimmed parts.
Again, use some rubbing alcohol and disinfect the tools before storing them.
Generally, we use overly grown plant parts in compost. But you should not use the dry, dead, yellow, and brown parts of the plant.
Repotting
Repotting is necessary only in root-bound conditions. It put new life in dull and weak plants. Look for the following signs in your arrowhead plant.
- The roots are coming out of the bottom hole
- Roots are visible over the top surface of the soil
- There are cracks in the plant pot
- Your plant is not growing well (slow growth)
- Soil is coming out with drained water.
All these signs show that your plant is feeling suffocated in its pot. And need immediate repotting. Use terracotta or plastic pots with drainage holes.
Steps of Repotting:
- For repotting use size large pot than the current container.
- Water the plant 30 hours before the repotting. This will make the soil loose and you can easily take the plant out of its pot.
- Then put new potting soil in the new pot and plant your plant in it. Give some water and put it back in its place.
- For extra safety of the plant check the roots and remove the infected part.
Toxicity
Pink Syngonium plant is toxic to animals and humans only if ingested. Keep the plant container away from the reach of the children and pets.
The juice of the plant contains calcium oxalate. This is a toxic substance that is harmful to humans and pets.
Following are the early symptoms of toxicity:
- Swollen mouth
- Mouth Sores
- Stomach Pain
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Skin irritation
If you see any of the above signs in your kids or pets, then immediately contact the poison control center. Tell them that you have a Pink Syngonium at home.
Pink Syngonium Propagation techniques
For quick Pink Syngonium propagation, stem cutting is the best and easiest method.
Anyone can propagate it by following the below steps:
- Look at your plant closely and choose the disease-free healthy stems.
- Cut 4 to 5 inches long stem from close to the roots.
- Take a glass of water and put the cutting in it. Make sure the leaves do not dip into the water.
- Store the glass in high humidity, away from direct sunlight.
- It needs indirect light for 5 to 7 hours per day.
- Keep eye on the water and change it once it gets dirty.
- Use filtered or distilled water only.
Within a few days, you will see the tiny white roots growing from the stem cutting. Once the roots grow 1 to 2 inches long, transfer the cutting into the potting soil.
Follow the regular Pink Syngonium care regime and you will have a beautiful plant in a few months.
Arrowhead Vine Pests and Diseases
Pest Infestation
The pink Syngonium plant is a hardy plant and has strong immunity against pests.
If you see pests on your plant this means your strong plant is in serious problem. Act immediately or your plant will die soon.
Pests only infect unhygienic and unhealthy plants. You can protect your plant by following the pink Syngonium care guide.
Aphids and Mealybugs are common pests.
Use rubbing alcohol to kill them. Take a cotton cloth and pour a few drops on it. Then wipe each leaf of an arrowhead vine plant.
The second option is insecticidal soap. Use it to wash your plant and it will kill all the bugs and pests. After that spray the neem oil and water mixture on the entire plant.
To prevent pest infestations, use neem oil spray once in 20 days. It is proven against pest infestations.
Root rot
It is the only disease that affects the arrowhead vine plant. Overwatering is the main cause of it. Do not blindly give water to growing goosefoot plants.
Every cup of extra water is deadly and is making the soil soggy. This blocks the natural air circulation and invites bacterial diseases.
Warm, human and waterlogged soil is the perfect place for bacteria build-up.
As I said always check the soil before watering your arrowhead vine and prevent root rot disease.
Pink Syngonium brown leaves
Brown leaves of Pink Syngonium mean you are using less water. Your plant is dehydrated, and its leaves are turning brown.
There is also another reason for this problem which is continuous exposure to extremely bright light.
Use a light meter to measure the amount of light your plant is receiving and change its place if you feel it is necessary.
Pink Syngonium leaves are Turning Green
This is a common problem with many plants. The only cause of green Pink Syngonium leaves is exposure to low light.
Because light energy is responsible for the production of chlorophyll. Bright light is necessary for the variegation.
In low light, the pink leaves of your plant start turning green. The high production of chlorophyll is responsible and low light is the main cause of it.
Increase the brightness of the light and your plant leaves will turn pink again in a few days.
Pink Syngonium Curling Leaves
There are two causes of it one is exposed to strong light and the second is lack of moisture in the air.
In strong light, plants fold their leaves to protect their leaf tissues from the harsh light. On the other hand, Pink Syngonium curls its leaves in low humidity.
In low air moisture, your plant folds its leaves to reduce the surface area. This way leaves need less moisture and less water.
Leggy Pink Syngonium
Fewer leaves and long vines are the results of poor light in the grow room. This problem is common with indoor growing arrowhead plants.
Outdoor growing plants always have plenty of bright light for them.
To reduce this problem, move your plant to a bright place like near a sunny window. Within in few days, you will see the development of new leaves.
Conclusion
Choose the Arrowhead plant If you want an easy-to-grow houseplant that looks like a piece of decoration. It is a rare variety but nowadays common in North America.
Best for beginner gardeners and hobby growers because it needs less care and maintenance.
If you like you can gift this plant to your friends and family.
